UPDATE: We've been asked to take down the trailer as it hasn't been approved for distribution yet.

Note: You might want to kick up the speakers a bit here; this one comes in a tad low.

Above you will find the first trailer for the film Traitor, starring Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce and Jeff Daniels. The wild thing about this film is that Steve Martin (yes, THE Steve Martin) came up with the idea for Traitor, though he left scripting duties to writer-director Jeffrey Nachmanoff. Based on what we see above, Traitor seems like one of those "have fun figuring it out" types. Pearce plays a straight-edge FBI agent who heads an investigation on international conspiracy, where all clues lead back to former U.S. Special Operations office, Samir Horn (Cheadle). Thus begins what appears to be a dangerous cat and mouse game between the two -- with Daniels playing a veteran CIA contractor with his own agenda.

What I'm liking about this one is that Cheadle looks pretty rough, tough and ready to rumble -- and we don't get to see him much in roles where he can beat the living hell out of anyone within shouting distance. Go Don Cheadle! That guy always gives a tremendous performance, so no matter what I believe Traitor will be worth the watch just to see Cheadle in action. But let us know what you think.

Traitor hits theaters on August 29.

Two reasons I'm writing this story: 1) I love screenwriter success stories, and 2) I love New York City screenwriting success stories. (No, I'm not very interested in seeing a sequel to New Jack City ... unless, of course, Chris Rock loses fifty pounds and plays another crack addict.) Over at Yahoo, they have a great story about a NYC tollbooth worker who wrote a crime script last year called Brooklyn's Finest. See, his car was totaled in an accident and so he entered this screenwriting competition with hopes the cash prize would help pay for a new ride. While Michael Martin had studied film in college, he had never written a full screenplay before -- and though his script placed second, it attracted attention from all over the place; landing on the steps of a Warner Bros-based producer who was searching for someone gritty enough to write the sequel to New Jack City.

Dude eventually moved to Los Angeles, wrote for the Showtime series Sleeper Cell, but then got homesick and returned to New York -- where, to this day, he works for the Transit Authority (he was just promoted to construction flagger). In between flagging, he still works on the New Jack City 2 script (which will probably go direct to DVD) on break in the subway tunnels, all while Brooklyn's Finest gears up to go into production this May -- in Brookyln -- with Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Richard Gere and Ellen Barkin starring. Training Day's Antoine Fuqua will direct.

Oh, and he has a new car now.

Great story; you can read the entire thing here. And good luck to you Mr. Martin!

I crashed pretty much right after the Oscars last night, but I convinced my wife to leave the TV on in bed in order to watch a little of whatever Jimmy Kimmel was going to do for his post-Oscars show. And, to my delight, he chose the time to seek his revenge on girlfriend Sarah Silverman and her "I'm f**king Matt Damon" music video. Oh yes, Kimmel took his video -- "I'm f**king Ben Affleck" -- to the next level. Not only did it open with a Brad Pitt cameo, but by the time it was over, a group of people were singing in a "We are the World" format; folks like Don Cheadle, Huey Lewis, Robin Williams, Joan Jett, McLovin', Lance Bass ... and Harrison Ford. Yes! Harrison friggin' Ford driving a car with a bumper stick that read, "Honk if you're f**king Ben Affleck." I don't know how in the world they convinced Mr. Serious to appear in this thing, but nevertheless the entire thing was a riot.

Check out the video above. And in case you missed the Silverman/Damon video that started this whole thing, you can view it after the jump. Enjoy.

It's kind of funny if you think about it, but Steve Martin really does have two entirely different careers. First, there is the goofy family friendly guy who stars in middling comedies like Bringing Down the House and Cheaper By the Dozen; and then there is the acerbic wit who writes abstract New Yorker pieces and stars in David Mamet films. Plus, occasionally he comes up with an idea for a movie of his own. RowThree.com is now hosting two new stills from the political thriller, Traitor. Martin will not be starring in this film, although he will serve as an executive producer. Originally Disney had lined up to produce the film back in 2002, but after a few staff changes at "mouse headquarters," the project was dropped.

Traitor stars Guy Pearce, Don Cheadle, and Jeff Daniels. Jeffrey Nachmanoff directed the film and the plot is is described as a "topical, politically relevant story dealing with international terrorism and U.S. traitors." Pearce plays FBI agent Roy Clayton; a straight arrow type who is drawn into a political conspiracy when everything points to a Special Operations officer (Cheadle). From there on it sounds like your usual espionage fare and, "obsessed with discovering the truth, Clayton tracks Horn across the globe as the elusive ex-soldier burrows deeper and deeper into a world of shadows and intrigue."

Nachmanoff isn't exactly a household name, but you might recognize him as the man who wrote The Day After Tomorrow (which isn't exactly good news, now is it?). But, I'll rely on the reputations of Pearce and Cheadle to guarantee me at least a decent popcorn movie if nothing else. Nachmanoff also wrote the script for Traitor before heading off to work on pre-production for Jerry Bruckheimer's video game flick, Prince of Persia. Traitor is still in post-production so a release date has not been set. Stay tuned to Cinematical for any updates that come our way.

Would you like to see a movie in which Arnold Schwarzenegger and George Clooney unite against a genocidal African nation? How about a movie dealing with racial problems in the Sudan from the producer of Crash? Technically, you can see both movies in one with Darfur Now, a new documentary featuring the star power of the two actors mentioned and produced by co-star Don Cheadle, who was one of Crash's six producers.

Of course, if you're looking forward to Schwarzenegger and Clooney double-handedly kicking some Sudanese butt, or for Cheadle to head-up a multi-character drama focused on race relations within a society in denial, then you're sure to be disappointed. Still, the latter idea does closely describe Darfur Now. The film spotlights six individuals, some of whose stories directly inter-weave, who are affected by the tragedy in Darfur and have been successful at making a difference.

These individuals include Cheadle, an Oscar-nominated actor using his celebrity to draw attention to the issue, Adam Sterling, a 24-year-old waiter and activist urging Governor Schwarzenegger to sign a bill to keep California funds from investing in companies with interests in Sudan, and Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. Then there's the ones actually situated in Darfur: Hejewa Adam, a woman whose baby was beaten to death by Janjaweed attackers who now fights in the Sudanese Liberation Army; Ahmed Mohammed Abaka, a displaced builder and farmer who now serves as a leader of a camp of 47,000 other displaced Darfurians; and Pablo Recalde, leader of the World Food Program in West Darfur.

Spider-Man 3
The many flaws of Spider-Man 3 have been well-documented: The elevated cheese factor, the overabundance of baddies, that absurd 10-minute stretch of song, dance and unsightliness where it suddenly feels like we're watching some strange mash-up of Willard vs. The Mask... But it's not like this is a bad movie. Underwhelming compared to its pair of astonishing predecessors? Sure, but still entertaining enough for a Sunday afternoon slouchfest. Yes, a movie that costs $250 million (or more?) should make our eyes pop and our remaining senses tingle (and possibly even leave us a craving a cigarette and a shower afterward), and Spidey 3 has moments of such bliss. Its single biggest flaw is that when it needs to get really dark, it gets really hokey -- perhaps catering to a younger audience, but losing a whole lot of credibility in the process.

Talk to Me
About a month back we ran a feature speculating (guestimating, too) over early Oscar contenders, and a few of our readers astutely inquired, "Where the f*** is Don Cheadle?" Our bad. Cheadle does indeed deserve to be part of the discussion in the Best Actor race, as crowded a field as it looks this year. Shoot, even Cate Blanchett wants in. Cheadle begins chewing the scenery faster than you can say Chiwetel Ejiofor as Civil Rights-era radio talk show host Ralph "Petey" Greene in this honest and engaging portrayal. Also thoroughly impressive -- and who I wish would also get mentioned in awards chatter -- is Taraji P. Henson. The Hustle & Flow breakout has a vibrancy about her to match Cheadle at every turn, AND she's got a killer Afro to boot. Though unexpectedly conventional at times, the film is a rare treat for folks who appreciate thoughtful yet feel-good, socially relevant entertainment.

This week features a trio of intriguing indie DVDs. In her review of the dramatic and poignant Journey From the Fall, our own Kim Voynar wrote: "The journey of the 'boat people' of Vietnam has never before been documented in an American film, but if it took this long to do it right, it was worth the wait." She notes that "writer/director Ham Tran did countless interviews with Vietnamese refugees and survivors of the re-education camps to make certain his script for Journey from the Fall was authentic." The effort certainly sounds like it paid off. Look for the DVD from ImaginAsian Home Entertainment.

Cinematical's very busy Kim V. also reviewed Charles Ferguson's documentary No End in Sight when it debuted at Sundance earlier this year. She acknowledged the many other Iraq War docs that have been made recently, yet felt "the difference with No End In Sight is that it takes a ruthlessly fact-finding, information-based approach, simply in finding the right people to talk to and listening to what they have to say, that ultimately paints a very different picture of the Iraq War than the one spun by the folks currently in the Bush administration." Magnolia's DVD includes a flock of extras.

Talk to Me reportedly features a galvanizing performance by Don Cheadle, playing an ex-con who became a very popular radio personality in Washington D.C. Jeffrey M. Anderson was duly impressed, expressing his opinion that director Kasi Lemmons' major achievement "is the way that she has been able to trace nearly 20 years of history while still allowing the film to live in its current moment." The DVD from Universal Studios includes deleted scenes and two featurettes.

Other releases of interest include the five-disk set The Cinema of Peter Watkins, Russian action fantasy Day Watch and romantic comedy In the Land of Women. Oh, and a box set of some television show co-created by the dude that made Eraserhead.

Do you live in the Los Angeles area? Are you interested in seeing a free movie and hobnobbing with celebrities at a reception afterwards? Plus with the added benefit of it all being for a good cause? Well, then you've come to the right place.

Cinematical, along with Warner Independent Pictures, is giving away ten pairs of tickets to the World Premiere of Darfur Now, starring and co-produced by Don Cheadle, this coming Tuesday, October 30th at the Directors Guild of America. The film starts at 7:30pm, and you'll be able to watch the arrivals on the red carpet, and attend the exclusive reception afterwards. We'll be giving these tickets away to ten random commenters, but please be aware that you need to live near enough to Los Angeles to get there on your own nickel by Tuesday.

Check out the details about the film (including the trailer) and the giveaway after the break.

With production set to begin next month, the Hotel for Dogs is about to turn off its vacancy sign. In June, I alerted you to the project when Thor Freudenthal was tapped to direct Lois Duncan's children's book from the '70s, about two orphaned teens who hide stray dogs in an abandoned hotel. After getting a director, Eric Roberts' offspring, Emma Roberts, was tapped to star as one of the kids, and then Don Cheadle signed on to play the orphans' social worker. Now we've got much of the cast in place, although there's still no familial cohort for Roberts in sight.

Topping the recent additions is Friends alum Lisa Kudrow, fresh off the upcoming Butler/Swank romance, P.S., I Love You. She will play the foster parent of the two dog-loving kids, which will be a bit of a contrast to her other upcoming work -- she's going to produce and star in a black comedy called Intense Girl Scouts. The other new cast member is Johnny Simmons, who recently hit the screen in Evan Almighty, and who is already set to play the young Denny Colt in The Spirit. Since the brother spot is still open, Simmons will be playing Roberts' crush.

They don't have too much time left, so hopefully they pick a co-star soon. Otherwise, it'll be mighty weird to see Roberts act with an imaginary person, and it will be an entirely different story. Instead of a feel-good tale of two kids and some cute canines, she'd be talking to people who aren't there and surrounding herself with dogs -- first step, foster, second step, asylum!

"Last time I visit Cinematical!" "Guess it's a slow news day, huh?" "Cinematical used to be cool, but now they just don't care anymore." Yup, these are just some of the comments I expect to read after writing a post about Britney Spears. But what can I say -- the gal just fascinates me. Like the rest of the world, I managed to catch Britney's VMA performance ... and loved every minute of it. Sure, I've been reading all these stories about how she embarrassed herself, MTV, Jesus, Kanye, what have you, but in my opinion, MTV should freaking pray to her. Without that trainwreck, their show would've been mentioned briefly -- Kid Rock threw a punch, blah blah -- end of story. But Britney. Boy, did she get our attention. The Movie Blog recently wrote a story asking whether folks would be interested in a Britney biopic -- after all, she's shaping up to be the perfect candidate. The consensus is that people are sick of hearing about her; all they want is for Britney to go away. Far away. To the Land of I Can Have Two Kids and Still Party Like A Washed-Up Rock Star. Oh wait, we already live there.

But they're lying. Because we want Britney. We need Britney. With La Lohan in rehab and Paris under publicist arrest, who do we turn to? This guy? I don't think so. So yes, I'm in favor of a Britney Spears biopic -- and I'd like it to happen sooner rather than later, this way everyone (Spears, Lohan, Hilton, K-Fed) can all play themselves. And I'd like a really serious director to helm the thing; someone like Roman Polanski. Oooh, he would be perfect. And he just dropped off Pompeii -- even better! Not to mention he has a thing for ... well, you know. There would need to be a few dance numbers (choreographed by Adam Shankman), while Steve Buscemi and Don Cheadle take on supporting performances -- if only because they're in practically everything these days. I'd like Fox to put it out in late September (with a premiere in Toronto), and I want Cinematical's James Rocchi to conduct all the audio interviews. And then Cinematical gets to premiere the poster; in big, shiny red ink -- it reads: Roman Polanski's Born to Make You Happy (taken from a Spears song, of course). That's what I want. Make it so ...

Replace Rwandan refugees with dogs and what do you get? Don Cheadle's next film. The actor, who earned an Oscar nomination for Hotel Rwanda, has been cast in the similarly titled yet very differently themed movie Hotel for Dogs. It isn't just the title of the new project that reminds us of the earlier film; the synopsis provided by Variety tells us that Hotel for Dogs features a hotel that serves as a refuge and sanctuary for beings that would otherwise be dispose of. Of course, this time they are in fact dogs and not human victims of a civil war in Africa. Last month, when Monika brought you the story of Hotel for Dogs, it was said that Emma Roberts (I'll continue reminding you that she's Julia's niece) would star as one of two orphaned teens who hide stray dogs in an abandoned hotel. We had also learned that it was based on a 1971 children's book by Lois Duncan and that it would be effects artist Thor Freudenthal's directorial debut. The adaptation has been scripted by Jeff Lowell (John Tucker Must Die) and is being produced by Jon Gordon, Lauren Shuler Donner (Unaccompanied Minors) and Jack Leslie.

Cheadle apparently will not be a hotel manager this time. Instead, he will play a social worker who keeps the teens out of trouble. I can't find a plot description of the book, but I have a feeling that his role will not be too huge. Seeing as how he mostly appears in R-rated films (including his other 'Dog' title, The Dog Problem), Cheadle is probably just doing this for his preteen daughters. Despite coming from a book by Duncan, who also wrote the source of I Know What You Did Last Summer, this movie will likely be more family friendly. Hotel for Dogs begins shooting in early November, which is probably just after Cheadle finishes the espionage thriller Traitor and should fill some time while he continues to wait on start date announcements for the biopics about Toussaint L'Ouverture and Miles Davis.

While it might be interesting to see Guy Pearce and Don Cheadle run around in an espionage thriller without any other characters, that isn't very realistic. Variety is reporting that more have been added to the cast of Traitor -- the big names being Jeff Daniels and Neal McDonough. The former is coming off some higher-cred films like Infamous and The Lookout, and recently completed a role in Mama's Boy -- the slacker romcom with Diane Keaton and Jon Heder. The latter was last seen in LiLo's latest flop -- I Know Who Killed Me, but also flicks like Flags of Our Fathers. (This also reunites McDonough with Pearce -- both were in Antonia Bird's Ravenous.)

As for the rest of the names added to the cast -- there's Archie Panjabi (A Mighty Heart), Aly Kahn (Osama) and Said Taghmaoui (Hidalgo). While it would be nice to see these actors as fellow CIA or FBI agents, methinks you can guess what sort of roles they are getting. If you're foggy on the plot -- Steve Martin (yes, that one) came up with an idea that Jeffrey Nachmanoff has since written and will direct -- a CIA operative (Cheadle) is undercover in a terrorist group and becomes a terror suspect. Pearce plays an FBI agent who investigates terrorist activities. You can imagine where things go from there. The feature will head into production this Monday as TIFF zooms into high gear.

Strictly on the basis of its estimated per-screen average, Talk to Me was the star of the weekend. As listed by Box Office Mojo, the period biopic added 79 theaters for a total of 115 and brought in $6,982 on average, earning an estimated total of $1,886,000 for distributor Focus Features. In his Cinematical review, Jeffrey M. Anderson praised the direction by Kasi Lemmons and thought that the film might "stir up some enthusiasm over its amazing performances" and that seems to be the case. The great Don Cheadle stars; he has the kind of magnetic appeal that makes him stand out and gets people talking.

Opening with a very robust estimate of $16,000 per screen in New York and Washington, DC, Charles Ferguson's Iraq war documentary No End in Sight showed that interest is still strong for independent viewpoints on the subject. Reviewing it at Sundance for Cinematical, Kim Voynar acknowledged other Iraq war docs, but felt "the difference with No End In Sight is that it takes a ruthlessly fact-finding, information-based approach, simply in finding the right people to talk to and listening to what they have to say." James Rocchi just interviewed Ferguson and it's a fascinating read. Magnolia Pictures will roll out No End in Sight to more cities in the coming weeks.

Two other new releases did fine in limited engagements; period drama Moliere and nature doc Arctic Tale averaged north of an estimated $5,000 per screen. Expanding in their screen count, Sunshine ($2,750 per screen) and Rescue Dawn ($3,304 per screen) performed quite respectably. Sicko lost 267 screens and the per-screen estimate at the remaining 850 locations dropped 39.4% to $1,338, indicating a slowdown in its sixth week, along with summer favorites Waitress and Paris je t'aime (under $1,000 per screen in the 13th week of release for each). Meanwhile, La Vie en Rose and Once remain steady.

No, there's not another Steve Martin out there who specializes in espionage thrillers. I'm talking about the funny Steve Martin -- the guy who's starred in films like Father of the Bride, My Blue Heaven and The Jerk. Yes, that Steve Martin. Apparently, while on set filming Bringing Down the House, Martin came up with an idea for an espionage thriller and pitched it to producers David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman. At first however, both men thought Martin was joking (and who wouldn't), but once they learned he was serious -- and heard the idea -- they immediately hopped onboard. After winding up at Disney (where it was eventually placed into turnaround), the flick has now found a home with Overture Films, as well as two highly-talented male leads. The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce have signed on to star in Traitor, with Jeffrey Nachmanoff directing off his own script (which is based on Martin's original idea). Go figure, huh?

In the film, Cheadle will play a CIA operative working undercover with a terrorist group who somehow becomes a terrorist suspect as well. Pearce, on the other hand, will star as an FBI agent investigating terrorist activities. At some point, I imagine one man will be searching for the other, unaware that they're both on the same team. That is unless Cheadle's undercover work takes him in a little too deep (hence the title) ... if you know what I mean. On the tone of the film, Hoberman says: "The movie deals with the subject of terrorism evenhandedly. It's not black and white but gray and religious-based." Nachmanoff, who's known for writing big-budgeted epics such as The Day After Tomorrow and the upcoming Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, will begin shooting Traitor this September in Toronto and Morocco. Pic marks the sixth one Overture Films has picked up for distribution this year; they're also set to release the Robert De Niro/Al Pacino thriller, Righteous Kill.

Radio has to be one of the most un-cinematic things on the planet; it's a guy sitting in a booth for four hours talking into a microphone, or maybe playing some music. And yet radio has a kind of special magic about it. A person's voice comes sailing through the airwaves and landing in our homes, and it has the power to captivate, to soothe and to make sense of the world. Radio has appeared in a surprising number of good movies: Wolfman Jack and Stephen Wright, respectively, provided atmosphere in American Graffiti (1973) and Reservoir Dogs (1992), Robin Williams brought humor to the troops in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) and Christian Slater brought hope to high school students in Pump Up the Volume (1990).

It's probably a great deal more difficult to make a movie about podcasting, and so with her new film Talk to Me, director Kasi Lemmons (Eve's Bayou, The Caveman's Valentine) returns to the past for the story of Ralph "Petey" Greene (Don Cheadle), an ex-con who became one of Washington DC's most recognizable personalities in the 1960s and all the way up to his death in 1984. Lemmons starts her movie with a bang, with Petey's signature line: "Wake up, Goddammit!" as Dewey Hughes (Chiwetel Ejiofor) rolls out of bed, puts on his suit and makes an excursion to prison to visit his brother (Mike Epps). Lemmons intercuts Dewey's progress while Petey "raps" about imprisonment. Dewey may be free, but he's trapped, too.